Former Chief Executive Officer of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), now Ghana GoldBod, Nana Akwasi Awuah, has proposed the formation of an African Gold Refineries Association as a first step towards establishing a continental bloc of gold-producing countries.
Nana Awuah said the growing number of gold refineries being established across Africa could provide a platform for stronger cooperation among countries involved in the continent’s gold value chain.
According to him, bringing the refineries together under a common association could eventually lead to the formation of an African Gold Producers Association (AGPA) to coordinate the interests of gold-producing countries.
“The formation of an African Gold Producers Association (AGPA) is long overdue,” Nana Awuah said in a Facebook post on Monday, September 29.
He called on African countries with gold refineries to come together as a bloc to develop stronger linkages in gold production, refining and marketing.
Nana Awuah said an African Gold Refineries Association (AGRA) could serve as an initial platform for cooperation while efforts are made towards establishing the broader producers’ association.
He said such collaboration could help African countries retain and maximise more of the value generated from their gold resources for their economies and populations.
“So far, Africa is taking the right decisions as far as its natural resources are concerned. There must be a strategy to create synergies across the continent and one such way is to unite en bloc through these associations,” he said.
Nana Awuah said Africa’s increasing focus on domestic gold refining presented an opportunity to build stronger connections across the gold value chain.
He argued that greater cooperation among countries with refining capacity could create synergies and strengthen Africa’s position in the global gold industry.
The proposal comes amid increasing efforts by African gold-producing countries to expand domestic refining and capture more value from their mineral resources.
Nana Awuah said the process of establishing a continental producers’ association could take time, making an association of gold refineries a practical starting point for building the required cooperation.
